A detection device of the type mentioned at the outset is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,396,053 B1 and 6,459,484 B1. Specifically, the aforementioned documents describe a spectral detector having microelements for beam deflection. In the known detection device, which is designed as a spectral detector, different spectral components are spatially split. Located in the splitting plane is a microelement array which allows the different spectral components to be arbitrarily deflected in different directions, and thus to be detected by different detectors.
In the known detection device, the individual spectral components are focused by a lens into the plane of the deflection device, which is designed as a microelement array. As a result of this, the beams focused on the microelement array diverge or move apart shortly after impinging thereon. Due to this divergence, beams from different microlements can only be properly separated if the minimum deflection angle of the individual microelements is greater than this divergence. In other words, relatively large deflection angles are required to ensure proper separation of the beams or the light from different microelements. In this connection, however, it is a problem that the large deflection angles required cannot, or only with great difficulty, be achieved with the microelement arrays for beam deflection that are currently in use. In the final analysis, proper separation of the beams from different microelements is nearly impossible.